Adjustable partitions



Dec. 5, 1967 B. ULERY 3,355,848

ADJUSTABLE PARTITIONS E Filed Dec. 3C, 1964 s Sheets-Sheet 1 26 LEONARD E1. ULERY BY waf ATTORNEY Dec. 5, 1967 B. ULERY 3,355,848

ADJUSTABLE PARTITIONS Filed Dec. 30, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet i:

INVENTOR LEONARD B. ULEQY ATTORNEY Dec. 5, 1967 L. Es. ULERY ADJUSTABLE PARTITIONS 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed DeC. 30, 1964 INVENTOR LEONARD B. ULERY ATTORNEY 3,355,848 ADJUSTABLE PARTITIONS Leonard B. Ulery, .Ielfersontowm Ky., assignor to Logan Co., Louisville, Ky., a corporation of Kentucky Filed Dec. 30, 1964, Ser. No. 422,328 Claims. (Cl. 52-285) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A relatively narrow vertical elongated liller for use between partition panels, or between one edge of such panel and a partition wall, t-o fill such space and thus eliminate the use of custom-built panels where stock sizes cannot be used to make a partition of the desired length.

This invention relates to adjustable partitions, and has particular reference to adjusting the width of Wire partition panels.

It is a common practice in many places, for example in warehouses, stock roozms, etc., to divide the area of a building iioor space by wire partition panels. These panels commonly are made of relatively heavy Woven Wire mounted in structural steel frames. Manufacturers of such structures usually manufacture and stock panels of standard widths which are combined to provide a partition of whatever length is desired. For example, such panels may be made in widths of 5', 4', 3', 2 and 1. In a large per* centage of installations, these stock sizes cannot be cornbined to provide a partition of the proper length, for eX- ample, when the desired partition, made up of a combination of panels of different widths, leaves a space equal in width to a fraction of 1. On -orders for partitions of the type referred to, it has been necessary for the factory to make up a custom-built panel so that the partition will be continuous throughout the horizontal length desired. This is highly disadvantageous and expensive. It is disadvantageous for the reason .that it delays the filling of customers order until a panel can be custom built. It is eX- pensive for `the reason that the custom building of a panel makes this panel substantially more expensive than the remaining stock sizes furnished to a customer. Because of the usual Vrequirement for custom built panels to complete a partition, dealers do not customarily stock a complete line of the panels.

` An important object` of the present invention is to provide a novel, highly simplified and versatile partition filler construction which permits a manufacturer to stock panel sizes as referred to above and to` provide very easily and economically a continuation of one or more panels to fill a gap which .normally could be iilled only by making a custom built panel.

A further object is to provide such a iller including a basic Iunit usable by itself in someinstallations and combinable with another such unit under different conditions so that any gap to be -lilled may be taken care of very economically, up to the width of the narrowest stock size panel Vusually manufactured.

A further object is to provide such a filler construction which is readily -adjustable according'to the ga-p to be lled which may be mounted between one end of a partition and an adjacent wall, and which may be readily mounted between two panels lying in the same plane, and which may be connected between two panels arranged at right angles to eachother.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentd-uring the course of the following description. t

In the drawings I have shown several embodiments of the invention in this showing.

FIGURE 1 is 'a' face'view of a panel havinga sheet lUnited States Patent O metal iller at one end thereof, using a single basic ller element;

FIGURE 2 is a similar view showing two basic ller elements mounted between two adjacent panel sections in the same plane;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view on line 3 3 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a similar view on line 4-4 of FIGURE FIGURE 5 is a similar view showing a basic filler unit connected between panel sections perpendicular to each other;

FIGURE 6 is a similar view showing two basic panel units used in the same manner;

FIGURE 7 is a similar view showing two basic tiller units connected between a wall and a panel section spaced therefrom, and

FIGURE 8 is a similar View showing a single basic iiller unit connected between the spaced ends of panel sections lying in the same plane.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 10 designates a conventional woven wire panel used in the making of partitions of the type referred to. Such panel comprises vertical structural members 11 (FIGURE 1), and 12 (FIGURE 3) and upper and lower horizontal structural members 13 and 14. The area between such structural members is covered with woven wire 15 and these panels are conventional and form per se part of present invention. If the panels are of such length and height as to require the use thereof, central vertical structural members 16 and horizontal members 17 may be employed as shown in FIGURE 1. In FIGURE 2 the individual panels 10 are shorter horizontally and employ -only the intermediate horizontal member 17. Throughout the length of a partition a channeled cap strip 1S is arranged over and secured to the structural member 13.

The filler forming a principal subject matter of the present invention is indicated as a whole by the numeral 20. Such filler is preferably -steel and comprises a body 2.1 provided at one end with a perpendicularly turned flange 22. From such tiange to the opposite end thereof, the body 21 is fiat. The body 21 is provided with spaced sets of aligned slots 24. The uppermost and lower most sets of such slots are equi-distantly spaced from the top and bottom ends of the units 20. Preferably one set of slots is formed centrally of the length of each unit and other sets are formed centrally of the distance between the central set of slots and the uppermost and lowermost sets. All of the units 20 thus are identical to each other to permit them to be attached singly or in combination with another unit, as will become apparent below.

As shown in FIGURES l and 2, the vertical structural members have their lower ends projected below the lower structural member 14 to be supported in floor sockets 26 resting upon a concrete or other ioor surface 27. Also, in FIGURES l, 2 and 3 vertical wall 28 is shown at one end of the panel assembly in each case.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG- URES 1 and 3 a single panel unit is employed for filling a gap between the wall 28 and an adjacent panel 1t) spaced therefrom. In such case, the flange 22, assuming the wall 28 to be a masonry wall, is secured to the wall by a drive rivet 30. An angle iron 31 has one iiange `bolted as at 32 to the adjacent vertical structural member 12 of the adjacent panel 10. The other flange of the angle iron is bolted as at 33 to the body 21 of the panel unit, the bolt shown'in FIGURE 3 passing through one of the slots 24. Similar bolts pass through corresponding slots of the other sets as shown in FIGURE 1.

In FIGURES 2 and 4 a modified installation is shown for filling a gap between the vertical structural members n Se 11 and 12 of adjacent panels 1li lying in the same plane. The gap to be filled being too wide for the use of one panel unit 20, two of these units are employed as clearly shown in FIGURE 4. The flange 22 of the two panel units a-re bolted respectively as at 35 and 36 to the structural elements 11 and 12. The bodies 21 of the filler units overlap each other and are bolted together as at 38, the Ibolt passing through slots 24. Gbviously, the units 20 extend throughout the height of the panels as shown in FIGURE 2, and bolts 38 pass through registered slots 24 of each set of slots. The sets of slots 24 are identical from top to bottom of each filler unit, as described above. Hence, in connecting two of the units 2t) together, the righthand unit in FIGURE 4 will be inverted with respect to. the lefthand unit, but the sets of slots in the two uni-ts w1ll properly register. That is, each set of slots 24 will lie in a common horizontal plane with the corresponding slots 24 of the other filler unit.

Another modified arrangement is shown in FIGURE 5 for filling a gap between spaced ends of panels, where the panels lie in planes perpendicular to each other. The gap to be filled in FIGURE 5 is sufficiently narrow to be bridged by a single filler unit. In such case, the body 21 of the unit will lie against the face of the lefthand panel and will be bolted as at 3S to one flange of the angle iron 39 having its other flange bolted as at 40 to the adjacent structural element 11. One bolt 38, as will be obvious, is employed in the plane of each set ot' slots 24, and the bolts pass through such slots.

An angle iron 42 is arranged vertically against the flanges of the structural element 12 of the adjacent panel as shown at the Erighthand side of FIGURE 5. This angle iron is bolted as at 43 to the adjacent structural element 12 and is bolted as at 44 to the flange 22 of the filler unit employed.

Where the gap between ends of panels arranged perpendicular to each other is too wide for the use of a single filler unit, two of such units are employed, as shown in FIGURE 6. In this case the bodies 21 of the two filler units are overlapped and the flange 22 of the lefthand unit 2l? may be directly bolted as at 46 to the adjacent structural element 11. In the plane of each set of slots 24 a bolt 47 passes through two registered slots of the two filler units. The flange 22 of the righthand unit 2t) is bolted as at 48 to an angle iron 49, and such angle iron 11 is bolted as at 50 to the structural element 12 of the adjacent panel 10.

In FIGURE 7 the arrangement shown is applicable where a gap between a wall 52 and the structural element 12 of adjacent unit is wider than in FIGURE 3 so that a single filler unit cannot be employed. Under such conditions the bodies of two of the filler units are overlapped and a bolt 53 passes through registered slots 24 of each set of slots. The flange 22 of the lefthand unit 20 is drive riveted to the wall 52 as at 54. The flange 22 of the righthand unit 2f) is bolted as vat 55 to the structural element 12 of the panel 10.

In FIGURE 8 a modified assembly is shown wherein a single unit is employed for bridging the gap between two adjacent panels which are closer together than in FIGURE 4. The flange 22 of the unit is bolted as at 58 to the structural element 11 of the lefthand panel 10. The body 21 of the filler unit lies against one face of the structural element 12 of the righthand panel 10 and a `bolt 59 passes through a slot 24 of each set and through one flange of an angle iron 60 having its other flange bolted as at 61 to the adjacent structural element 12.

OPERATION The operation of the invention, particularly of the filler units, will be fairly apparent from the foregoing description. Where a partition is to be erected of a length which is not equal to `any combination of lengths of standard panel units, the filler unit or units may be quickly installed. For example, assuming in FIGURE 1 that a partition lO' 6" long is to be installed, the present practice would be to use one conventional 5' panel and then to custom build a 5 6" long panel. This not only involves substantial expense, but a serious time delay in filling a customers order. With the present construction, two standard 5' sections can be assembled, whereupon an angle iron 31 (FIGURE 3) is bolted to the structural element 12 and one of the units 20 has its flange 22 fixed to the wall 28 or other structure. The bolts 33 are then inserted and tightened to connect the unit 20 to the panel 10. Quite obviously the use of the filler 2t) is much more economical than the custom building of a special panel. Moreover, since the fillers 20 .are cheap to manufacture, all elements necessary for the erection of a given partition may be carried in stock. In other words, the custom building of special panels is completely eliminated.

The fil-ler yunits 20 are constructed very readily of relatively heavy rigid steel plate material. In the installations shown in FIGURES 3 and 8, the body 21 lies flat against a flange of the structural element 12 and also lies flat against the outer faces of the structural elements 13, 14 and 17. The upper end of the unit 20 may extend beneath the adjacent flange of the cap strip 18.

In the installations shown in FIGURES 2, 4, 6 and 7, two of the basic units 20 are employed, the righthand unit being inverted with respect to the lefthand units to place the flange 22 at the righthand end of the unit. In this installations, the flanges 22 abut the structural members to which they are secure-d, and instead of overlying a panel member, the bodies 21 of units overlap and are secured to each other.

In FIGURES 5 and 6 there are shown installations for filling a gap between one end of an incomplete partition and a 4unit 10 perpendicular thereto forming the first panel of a partition at right angles to the lefthand panel 10. In FIGURE 5 the gap to be bridged is sufficiently narrow to allow the use of a single panel unit. When such gap is too wide to be bridged by a single unit, two units are employed as in FIGURE 6. l

It will be understood that any number of drive rivets 30 (FIGURES 3 and 7) or bolts 35, 36, 46, 48, 55, 58 and 61 may be employed to establish a connection between the flanges 22 of the units and the structures to which they are connected.

As vpreviously stated, it is a general practice to make panels of the type described in widths of l' and multiples thereof. Therefore, in constructing a given partition a proper combination of panels of stock widths `may be used and will leave a gap of less than 1' to be bridged by the present structure. Therefore, generally speaking, it is necessary to stock filler units 20 of only one size. This unit is highly versatile as will be apparent from the filler installations shown in the drawings A single unit may be used where the gap to be filled is sufficiently narrow as in FIGURES 3, 5 and 8. All Wider gaps to be filled may be bridged by combining two of the filler units. In any case where the gap to be filled is wider than 1', an additional stock size panel may be employed. Therefore, the filler units are capable of filling any gap desired and the custom building of panels is completely eliminated together with the expense of building them and the delay encountered in supplying customers. As previously stated, dealers usually do not stock panels of all sizes since it is usually necessary in filling a given order to custom build a panel. Since this necessity is eliminated dealers can readily stock all units necessary for the construction of a partition of any length.

It is to be understood that the forms of the invention herewith shown and described are to be taken as preferred examples of the same and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangements of parts may be made as `do not depart from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Filler means in a gap between two vertical panels comprising a pair of filler units each formed of at rigid material, each unit having a vertically elongated planiform body, each unit having a vertical ange at one end thereof perpendicular to the plane of the associated body, said bodies overlapping each other in contacting relationship with the flanges of the bodies arranged at the remote edges thereof, means for securing said anges to the edges of the vertical panels each body having a plurality of horizontally aligned elongated slots, and bolts passing through registering slots in said overlapping bodies to secure them together.

2. Filler means in a gap between two panels comprising a pair of filler units each formed of iiat rigid material, each unit having a vertically elongated planiform body, each unit having a vertical ange at one end thereof perpendicular to the plane of the associated body, said bodies overlapping each other in contacting relationship with the anges of the bodies arranged at the remote edges thereof and lying in parallel planes, means for securing said anges to the respective panels, each body having a plurality of sets of horizontally aligned substantially elongated slots so spaced from the tops and bottoms of said bodies that when one of said units is inverted with respect to the other to place its ange at the end of said body remote from the flange of said other body the sets of slots in the two bodies will lie in corresponding positions, and bolts passing through corresponding slots of the two bodies.

3. Filler means in a gap between two panels comprising a pair of filler units each formed of flat rigid material, each unit having a vertically elongated planiform body, each unit having a vertical ange at one end thereof perpendicular to the plane of the associated body, said bodies overlapping each other in contacting relationship with the flanges of the bodies arranged at the remote edges thereof and lying in parallel planes, means yfor securing said anges to the respective panels, each body having a plurality of sets of horizontally aligned substantially elongated slots, two sets of such slots being arranged adjacent the upper and lower ends of said bodies and equidistantly spaced from such ends whereby, when one unit is inverted with respect to the other unit to arrange its flange remote from the flange of said other unit, the slots of each of said two sets will correspond in vertical position respectively to those of the other unit, and bolts passing through certain of sai-d slots to secure said bodies to each other.

4. Filler means according to claim 3 wherein one of said sets of slots of each body is arranged centrally of the height thereof, and a bolt passing through vregistered slots of said central sets.

5. Filler means in a space between two panels one of which is a partition panel, comprising at least one vertical filler unit extending between said panels, said unit comprising a vertical planiform body having a vertical flange lperpendicular to said body at one end thereof adjacent said partition panel, said body having a plurality of sets of horizontally aligned slots said partition panel being vertical and perpendicular to said body, a vertical angle iron having one flange secured to the adjacent end of said partition panel and its other flange extending beyond said end of said panel and lying against the ange of said unit, and fastening elements passing through said other ange of said other angle iron and through said flange of said unit and an additional fastening element passing through one slot of each set of said body and through said other panel.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,917,764 7/1933 Howie 52-646 2,000,885 5/ 1935 Davison 52--582 2,152,189 3/1939 Henderson 52-64 2,733,786 2/1956 Drake 52-633 2,990,920 7/ 1961 Hoffman 52-645 3,003,600 10/ 1961 MacKenzie 52-633 3,196,993 7/ 1965 Holloman 52-276 FOREIGN PATENTS 82,093 1956 Denmark.

JOHN E. MURTAGH, Primwry Examiner. 

5. FILLER MEANS IN A SPACE BETWEEN TWO PANELS ONE OF WHICH IS A PARTITION PANEL, COMPRISING AT LEAST ONE VERTICAL FILLER UNIT EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID PANELS, SAID UNIT COMPRISING A VERTICAL PLANIFORM BODY HAVING A VERTICAL FLANGE PERPENDICULAR TO SAID BODY AT ONE END THEREOF ADJACENT SAID PARTITION PANEL, SAID BODY HAVING A PLURALITY OF SETS OF HORIZONTALLY ALIGNED SLOTS SAID PARTITION PANEL BEING VERTICAL AND PERPENDICULAR TO SAID BODY, A VERTICAL ANGLE IRON HAVING ONE FLANGE SECURED TO THE ADJACENT END OF SAID PARTITION PANEL AND ITS OTHER FLANGE EXTENDING BEYOND SAID END OF SAID PANEL AND LYING AGAINST THE FLANGE OF SAID UNIT, AND FASTENING ELEMENTS PASSING THROUGH SAID OTHER FLANGE OF SAID OTHE ANGLE IRON AND THROUGH SAID FLANGE OF SAID UNIT AND AN ADDITIONAL FASTENING ELEMENT PASSING THROUGH ONE SLOT OF EACH OF SAID BODY AND THROUGH SAID OTHER PANEL. 